Does Trump Really Want the Border Wall?

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast

President Trump is once again demanding cash to build his border wall. But does he really want it? Like, really?

Immigration will dominate the conversation as Congress heads into session for what promises to be one of the least lame, lame duck sessions in recent memory. The spark: a confrontation between U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and migrants at the border in Tijuana on Sunday afternoon escalated to a point where tear gas was shot into the crowd of migrants—including women and children.

The president immediately used the incident to fuel his push for the wall—a refrain that will likely become deafening as the Dec. 7 deadline to fund the government looms closer. But there are indications that he’d rather fight over the wall than actually get the thing up.

We discuss this and more on the very first installment of Omnishambles, The Daily Beast’s new podcast that tries to make sense of the not-so-straightforward Trump Era.